By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Calling the police to complain about a noisy neighbor is one thing, but writing to the authorities to investigate the neighbor because he is a Jew or a Communist is a different matter.
The police may tell the neighbor to turn down the radio, but an investigation into whether one is a Jew or a Communist could have had far more serious consequences — especially during World War II.
Yet such denunciations often occurred in many countries occupied by the Nazis during World War II, according to Benn Williams, who is completing work on a doctorate degree in history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Mr. Williams spoke to about 30 people who had gathered Sunday afternoon for the annual Yom HaShoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — interfaith service at the Adath Israel Congregation, on Lawrenceville Road.
Denunciations are defined as “uncoerced communications” from people to the French, German and Italian authorities, which called for the punishment of real and perceived crimes, Mr. Williams said.
“To put it bluntly, denunciation is how the local population informed on — or betrayed — one another during and even after (World War II),” Mr. Williams said.
After World War II, denunciation was considered one of the most heinous of war crimes, he added.
“As one can imagine, timeless domestic squabbles and self-policing take on another dimension against the backdrop of the Holocaust when labels such as ‘Jew,’ ‘Communist,’ ‘anarchist’ or ‘resister’ — all of which represented illegal activities (in World War II France) — could ultimately lead to a police investigation, arrest, deportation and death,” he said.
But exactly how many such letters were written? Early estimates placed the number in the millions, Mr. Williams said, but more recent research indicates there were hundreds of thousands of such letters written.
Those letters came in all shapes and sizes, Mr. Williams said, as he quickly showed copies of letters on a projector screen. Some were handwritten, and others were typed.
The letters could demonstrate “the extreme sophistication of the highly educated and the simplicity of the misguided child,” he said.
Written in the Lyon region of France in 1942, one letter writer asks French authorities how a restaurant could conceal a “foreign” Jew named Janovitz while French workers were being sent to Germany.
Another letter written to the authorities accused a “presumed Jewish” family of participating in the black market by hoarding rationed food — a charge that was dismissed after an investigation was completed, Mr. Williams said. The head of the household had served in the French military before World War II, he said.
“At this point, what can we say about the motivations for denouncing during the war?” he said. “Anti-Semitism, jealousy, vengeance, domestic disputes, political allegiances, economic distress and perceived crimes top the list.”
Mr. Williams said he thinks some of the people who made denouncements were ignorant of the consequences of their actions. They may have known their neighbor would be investigated, but they may not have known about that person’s ultimate fate, he said.
Mr. Williams said that while he studied denunciation in France, it has occurred in every culture and in every period of history. The Spanish Inquisition was dependent upon people turning in their Jewish neighbors, for example, he said.
“There are different threads that make up a society,” Mr. Williams said. “Are you part of that society or are you an outsider? If you are going to disturb that fabric, have you thought of the ramifications? How badly do you dislike your neighbor? When we react to squabbles, we have to take a step back and look at the larger issues before we act.”

